The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has cancelled €500m worth of bonds linked to the liquidation of the former Anglo Irish Bank after buying them from the Central Bank.

Cancelling the bonds means interest will no longer have to be paid by taxpayers on the debt, which was a legacy of the banking crisis and was due to be redeemed in 2038.

It's the fourth time the NTMA has bought and cancelled bonds linked to the old Anglo Irish Bank that had been held by the Central Bank.

The Central Bank originally received these bonds as part of the liquidation of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) in February 2013 – the so called Prom Night, when the notorious promissory notes used to bailout the bank were cancelled and exchanged for standard government bonds.

In all the Central Bank acquired €25.03bn of long-dated so-called Floating Rate Notes (FRNs), and €3.461bn of the Irish Government 2025 Fixed Rate Bond, which was due to mature in March of 2025.

The NTMA announced that it had cancelled €500m of the Irish Floating Rate Treasury Bond due to mature on 18 June 2038.